Let's say two Ven are interested in entering a Romance. One initiates, and they go through the proper Rituals and in the end the end up with a Romance with a Potential of, let's say, 5.Its Rank begins at half of that, rounded up so it is a Rank 3 Romance.After two Seasons, it reaches its peak and has become a Rank 5 Romance. The next Season, the Rank will go down to 4.If they enter a Liason instead, the Rank will remain a 5, but they have opened themselves up to much more danger than the Liason is probably worth - especially since the bonus dice are halved so its effectively a Rank 3 Romance.For this example, anyway, let's assume that these Ven display enough Wisdom to not take their Romance too far, and to see that they are on the decline.At this point, both Ven are probably okay with allowing the Romance to remain while it dwindles, but are probably lining up their next fling.

What I don't think I understand are what the options are for ending the relationship. My understanding of the rules is that (as in real life) these things are never mutual. Even if both Ven aren't happy with the direction their relationship is headed, and both of them know there isn't any future in it, neither one wants to be the one who ends it. Someone gets dumped, and feels bad about it. Someone ends up with Padana.

The book describes 4 ways a Romance can end. In each of those, one Ven decides it is over, so it is.Two of those ways are considered "dishonorable", so the one doing the ending gets an Aspect for being a Savage lover. In all 4 cases (even if they do it honorably), their Ex gets an Aspect for being Heartbroken that gives them a lot of dice (5 in this example) for taking their pain out on you. It seems kind of weird that the heartbreak is based on the Potential of the Romance rather than its Rank at the time of the heartbreaking, but I guess I can see it. The longer you were in a relationship (in theory) the longer it will take you to get over it... even if it has basically run its course.

I imagine there is a 5th way a Romance can end, which is with the death of one of the Ven involved. This is probably pretty straightforward, but murder seems like an extreme way to avoid a jilted lover.

What happens if they just let the Rank bottom out after another year. Do they still have a Rank 0 Romance that does nothing but prevent them from starting a new Romance until one of them dumps the other? Or does the Romance just go away with neither Ven feeling all that broken up about it?

My Astelle is probably fairly tame... but when she was spurned by someone she spiked their drink and rigged a contest just so she could bed the other Ven and get a trophy to display at the next Althua! Ven wear red panties, by the way.